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The Cyclops is a recurrent miniboss in the Contra series. It is a gigantic humanoid robot that bears a powerful cannon on its head from which it fires a devastating energy beam. General description A gargantuan humanoid robot that generally makes its appearance among the ruins of a city, sometimes explicitly shown to be it the cause of such devastation. The Cyclops made its debut as the miniboss of the first stage in Contra: Hard Corps, and since then it has reappeared in at least a couple of more titles. Its attacks usually consist in throwing large objects (such as cars) or using its powerful fists to smash on the scenery. However, its trademark attack consists in emitting a devastating energy beam from the cannon it bears on its head (hence its name), which is capable of delivering an immense amount of destruction. In almost all of its appearances, this cannon is also its weak spot and the only way to harm it. Even though it may give the impression that this creature is bulky and slow all the time, it has actually been shown to be very agile, being capable of jumping many stories high and perform a few complex maneuvers, as well as being resistant to extreme conditions such as withstanding the effects of fire or keeping its integrity intact in high altitudes. A unique model of this enemy has appeared in every installment it has appeared in, although all have in common their condition of being a robot, their gigantic size and their characteristic cycloptic cannon. Appearances ''Contra: Hard Corps First appearance of this enemy in the series. The '''Cyclops' makes a rather dramatic entrance by initially appearing in the background, slowly walking among the ruins of a city and firing its fiery ray to add to the devastation. Afterward, it jumps high in the air and lands in front of the heroes, commencing its attack by once again firing its cycloptic beam, which generates several pillars of flame to rise from the ground (although also providing safe spots between them). The monster will then proceed to throw a car at the player. However, it is not particularly resilient for a miniboss, and if the player remains at the center of the screen and concentrates all of their firepower toward the "eye" from the beginning, the creature will fall in a very short time, perhaps even before it can finish its initial beam attack. ''Contra 4 In ''Contra 4, this creature —now called the Missile Hugger 3000— appears twice in the Harbor stage: the first time as a miniboss fight midway through the level, and the second as the stage's main boss. It also bears an all out new design, now having a slimmer metal body colored in green and gold. The monster makes its introduction as the player has just set off on a missile launched from the harbor. Making honor to its name, the Missile Hugger appears out of nowhere and clings to one side of the missile while the player hangs for their life from a vertical pole. In this encounter, the creature just limits itself on either climbing up or down along the missile's surface and performing quick punches. This is also the only time the robot can be damaged on other part of its body instead of its "eye", with its torso being its weak spot in this particular encounter. Once defeated, the robot will start exploding and fall from the rocket. The monster comes back for a rematch once the missile has crashed back on Earth, emerging from the ruins of the city. It mainly attacks by performing quick punches on the ground. Its arms are its weak spot during this phase of the battle, and both have to be destroyed in order to proceed to the second phase. Once both arms have been destroyed, it will start to attack with its "eye" cannon, although coincidentally also exposing its head to damage. It will also start launching missiles to aid it in battle, which will travel upward a short distance and then launch down toward the player's current position. Gallery Return cyclop.png|''Contra: Return'' Category:Robots Category:Contra 4 bosses Category:Hard Corps bosses Category:Return bosses